Page 10 - January 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
It Doesn’t Seem Fair by Bob Dancer
B etween 1973 and 1992, backgammon was my gambling game of choice—although I also spent a considerable amount of time trying to learn blackjack during this same time period. Backgammon is not a casino game, but rather a game where two opponents
compete against each other. e pseudo-casino where I played most was not involved in the outcome of the game—but rather collected a fee for the use of the facilities. (Although not identical, this is a similar situation to the house collecting a rake at poker.)
Backgammon is a great gambling game. What makes it such a nice game is it has a nice mixture between luck and skill. Many plays have only a few choices, and almost every player makes the same move. But others have a lot of choices and there is a big di erence between the plays an expert makes and the plays a novice makes. Everyone loses some of the time at backgammon, and conversely, most people win some of the time.
During much of the time I played backgammon, I was a better player than most of my opponents. I
Now switch the discussion to video poker, which is also a great gambling game, with a nice mixture
was brighter, studied more, and just plain better at guring things out. Since backgammon is an open game, I could see when my opponents made di erent plays
“Now switch the discussion to video poker, which is also a great gambling game, with a nice mixture between luck and skill. Most losing players claim
between luck and skill.
Most losing players
claim that they’re
unlucky. Nonsense. I
strongly believe that
over hundreds of
thousands of hands,
luck pretty well On the other hand, explaining how you’re
than I would have. that they’re unlucky. Nonsense. e players I would
balances out. Not completely, of course. And certainly not over short periods, but over
the course of hundreds of thousands of hands,
improving your luck by studying strategies, practicing on a computer, going to free classes, and sticking to your New Year’s Resolution to avoid games where the house has a considerable edge, this makes people think well of you. Wouldn’t you rather have people think you are going about gambling intelligently than have them reminded constantly that you’re a loser?
I believe we create our own luck in this game (as in most things in life). e tools are available if you want to improve.
Bob Dancer is America’s best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of “how to play better video poker” products, including Winner’s Guides, strategy cards, videos, and the award-winning computer software, Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his recent novel, Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com
usually beat tended tomakealotof di erent plays than I did—plays that I easily recognized as inferior.
ese opponents regularly complained that I was lucky and they were unlucky— that the dice treated me more kindly than they treated them.
I strongly believe that over hundreds of thousands of hands, luck pretty well balances out.
deserve.
Not completely, of course. And you get what you
certainly not over short periods, but over the course of hundreds of thousands of hands, you get
what you deserve.”
Improving your luck at video poker is simple. It starts with choosing better games and learning to play them well. is is a frequent theme in my
fault. One of the bad things about complaining is that nobody cares why you keep losing. Anyone who constantly complains they lose is basically frequently announcing that he is a loser. Are you sure this is the message you want to tell people about yourself?
And that’s the way it looked to them. ey didn’t understand that the reason the dice treated me better was because of the plays I made.
writings so I’m not going to dwell on it this time. One of the nice things about complaining about your rotten luck is that this “proves” it’s not your
Page 10 January 2006
Video Poker with Bob Dancer